Recent physiological data obtained in our laboratory indicate that the arm area of cat motor cortex includes two functional subdivisions. Neurons in the caudal subdivision have lemniscal receptive fields and their changes in activity during tracking performance lag force production. Neurons in the rostral compartment have complex peripheral receptive fields and their task related activity may lead force production. These neurons fire at a fixed time after target shifts rather than at a fixed time prior to response. The proposed study will investigate which features of stimulus and response variables are coded in motor cortical output using cats trained to perform a series of tasks requiring different relations between target and response direction and magnitude. The pathways responsible for conveying target information to motor cortex will be examined using reversible lesions.